


in the dead of night, your eyes so green

by miraculouslycool



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: "friend dates", Aged-Up Character(s), Caution: hand holding and kissing, Civilian dates, Confessions of love, F/M, Fluff, Hot Mess Adrien Agreste, Hot Mess Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Humor, Identity Reveal, LADYNOIR LADYNOIR LADYNOIR, LadyNoir - Freeform, Ladynoir fall in love, Long One Shot, Mutual Pining, Oblivious Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Oblivious Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Romance, disguises, longfic, that's it that's the fic, the love square collapses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-14
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:40:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27008980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miraculouslycool/pseuds/miraculouslycool
Summary: What did he have to do to let her know exactly how much she deserved? She needed someone who would spend hours making himself good for her, someone who would open her doors, who would listen to her talk for as long as she wanted, who would see her for the wonderful person she was, even if....even if it wasn't him."Go out with me."A loud silence followed his words.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 30
Kudos: 441





	in the dead of night, your eyes so green

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sanj_sanj](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanj_sanj/gifts).



> Ladybug and Chat Noir act like they're totally not gaga for each other for 12.6K words straight.
> 
> The song title is a lyric from 'I Know Places' by Taylor Swift.
> 
> This fic is a gift for Sanj because she is amazing and she deserves good things, periodt.

Adrien Agreste loved being Chat Noir. The thrill he would feel while jumping over rooftops and running along them, that couldn't compare to anything in the world.

Well, almost anything in the world. The thrill of getting to see Ladybug was still far greater.

He was the personification of everything unpredictable and wild, and yet, he loved the little routine he had with Ladybug. Not that he would ever wish akumatisation on anybody, but seeing her make a plan worthy of a million brain cells, fighting alongside her, meeting up for patrol, getting to see the city in a way no one would - he lived for that lucidity, as abnormal and extraordinary as it was.

"Why hello there, m'lady!" He said, half in surprise. "You're early today." He commented, landing on the rooftop next to her.

"Huh?" She started, looking at him. "Oh, hey Chat." She blinked, like she had just seen him there.

"Whatcha thinking about, Bugaboo?" He winked.

"Oh, oh nothing, nothing much." She muttered, shaking her head, and (he couldn't believe it) blushing.

He squinted. "Is everything okay?" He asked. "You really look lost in thought."

That's when it clicked. There were two akumas today, one was an old lady who was annoyed that there was so much traffic in the city, she became a supervillain with vacuuming powers that wiped out nearly every vehicle in the city, and of course, their daily dose of M. Pigeon.

He had barely gotten over his sneezing from all the pigeon feathers when Ladybug had hurried away, muttering a quick apology and saying something about being late.

He hadn't thought much of it then, but now maybe whatever transpired in her civilian life didn't go over so well.

"Did it go well? The thing you were late for?" He asked.

She gaped a little before composing herself. "Uh, um, yeah!" She stammered, before shaking her head. "Let's...let's pet gatrolling- I mean - patrolling, sorry." She said, readying her yo-yo. "You take the left bank, I'll take the right."

She was gone before he had a chance to open his mouth.

Chat sighed. He certainly didn't prefer getting tidbits or half-worded accounts of Ladybug's life, nor did he like watching his words every time he spoke to her. He understood why, of course, and he'd never question her about it

He knew Ladybug was his age, and so he knew she had a life of her own, university classes of her own, at least he thinks she does, and many, many other things she couldn't tell him.

Raising his staff, he took off to do his duty as one half of Paris's dynamic duo, quietly dreaming of the day he would get to simply talk to Ladybug for hours and hours without checking himself.

Talking. That was enough. They didn't even need to be together. He knew that was never going to happen since years ago, and he accepted it.

Which meant that he needed to stop going down that path, he thought to himself furiously. He was going to slow down, and once they met up, he was going to ask her again.

* * *

She was a completely different person when they met on top of the Eiffel Tower again. Then, she was distracted and flustered, now she was all smiles.

"All clear?" She asked - no, she practically chirped.

"Hm, yeah. Nothing happened." He said, noting her too wide smile and bright eyes. "What about you, though?

"Yep, everything is fine on my side." She said quickly, putting on that perky air he had never seen in her before. "Okay then, see you tomorrow, Chat-"

"Wait!" He caught her hand. "Ladybug, are you okay?"

"Yeah." She said slowly. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Look, I don't know what's going on, and you don't need to tell me what's going on, but - you know that I can tell when you're upset, don't you?" He asked, squeezing her wrist.

"I...even if I could tell you," her cheeks turned a bright crimson red. "I can't. It's too embarrassing. And pathetic."

"I can do embarrassing." Chat said proudly, pointing to himself. "And it can't be pathetic."

"It is." She squeezed her eyes shut. "It really is."

"You can tell me." He perked up. "I mean - if you want to, that is!! I don't want to like, guilt trip you or force you into telling me-"

She stopped him by squeezing his shoulder. "I do want to tell you."

"Really?" He breathed. She wasn't just saying that?

"So, um, I went out on a date today and it went so-" Ladybug's eyes widened and she slapped her hand over her mouth, just as a large weight dropped in Chat's stomach.

"I'm sorry!!" Ladybug fell all over herself trying to apologize. "I'm so sorry, mon chaton, I didn't mean to- oh my god, I'll shut up now." She covered her face in her hands. "I'm so so stupid!"

"Hey, hey, hey!" Chat held her shoulders. "What are you apologizing for?"

Actually he knew exactly what she was apologizing for. But it wasn't like she needed to.

Swallowing down that twinge of hurt, he let her speak. "I wasn't trying to rub it in your face or anything! I shouldn't have-"

"Wait, is that what this is about? M'lady, it's fine. If you want to talk about a bad date, if that's what it is-" he said, selfishly hoping it was. "-of course, I'm here for you. I've had my share of bad dates too."

She paused in her fretting over his words. Well, he wasn't lying about the dates part. Most of them were PR stunts set up by his father, sometimes the girl in question was genuinely nice and friendly but they just didn't click.

And then there were those disastrous ones, which were few far and in between.

"You - you have?" She blinked in wonder, like she couldn't believe it.

"Is that so surprising?" He asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"No!" Ladybug shook her head, cursing herself. Chat Noir was the one guy in her life she didn't become a flustered mess around, but it seemed like she couldn't even do that right today.

Obviously, he had a life beyond defeating supervillains, beyond the mask and beyond her - _woah, where did that come from_ \- it shouldn't be such a huge surprise that he went on dates with girls too.

"No, it's just, I can't imagine - I can't imagine you ever having a date that went badly, I mean, you're- you know, all charming and dashing-" she regretted saying that the minute his smirk became cockier.

"I see, never knew you thought of me that way, Bugaboo. One learns new things everyday." He said smugly.

"Ha ha." She punched his arm. "You know what I mean. I'm just saying I find it really hard to believe you having a hard time with girls."

 _'If only you ever knew there was only one girl I want to have all my time with.'_ He thought dreamily to himself before snapping himself out of it.

His lady needed him, he needed to shelve the stupid fantasies for now.

He pulled her down as he sat cross legged on the roof of the Eiffel Tower. 

"Come on, tell Chat Noir all about the dude he needs to punch." He said cheekily.

"No need to punch anyone." She sighed, hugging her knees. "The fault is mine this time."

"I seriously doubt that." He said so firmly it made her look up.

"You don't even know what happened!" She exclaimed.

He frowned, but nodded and let her continue.

"Okay, so, uh, the guy! Right, the guy." For heaven's sake, why was she so shy?? This was Chat Noir! She talked to him about everything and anything she could talk about!

"He is one of my classmates." She said. "He and I met while working on a project together and well, we had similar tastes, so uh, two weeks later, when the project is done and assigned and graded, he asks me out, and why not? I said yes." She snuck a peek at his face, making sure that he wasn't bored or something, to her surprise, she caught a momentary flash of hardness in his expression, but it left as soon as it came.

"But of course," she growled, continuing her story, "The butterfly bastard just HAD to bring out two akumas on today of all days. After the first one, I was so late I had to run to the restaurant and by the time the second one came out, I had to leave in the middle of lunch!! He didn't say anything, but I could tell he was pissed." She said sadly. "And I don't blame him, if I were in his shoes, I'd hate me too."

"Come on, don't say that. It's not your fault you stood him up." Chat rubbed her back comfortingly.

"Yeah, it's not like he knows that now, does he? And this isn't even the first time this has happened. You wouldn't believe the number of classes I had to catch up on because of akumas, let alone dates!"

Sadly, Chat could relate. He had to work overnight for a photoshoot he had missed because of akumas. And then he had to go home and work on his school work. He had gotten so sick the next day even Plagg decided to ban him from stepping out of the house.

"Don't worry. I feel the same way too." He said. "I love being Chat Noir and all, but..."

"Having a double life and not being to explain why?" She finished. "I know."

"Hey, if it makes you feel better, I once had to stand someone up because of an akuma and that girl was so pissed she dumped her soda on me. In public."

He remembered making the headlines in every tabloid in Paris. He had gotten a mouthful from his father. Alya and Marinette, once they heard about it, were very sympathetic, and once Nino stopped laughing at it, he did too.

"What?!" Ladybug cried. "That's insane!! No one should - who does that?!"

"People who've been left waiting for 2 and a half hours?" Chat shrugged, shaking it off like it was nothing. "Like you said, I don't really blame her."

"Still! I mean! I would never do that! I wouldn't humiliate someone like that in public!" She was enraged. Her poor kitty. He had probably gone home feeling awful as she did, when he didn't deserve to.

"Really?" He said bitterly. "You wouldn't wanna sock the lights out of some idiot who stood you up for a reason that wasn't an akuma?"

Ladybug had nothing to say.

"Bugaboo?" He prompted.

"Well...." she hesitated. "I've been trying to be more understanding about people standing me up or just arriving late. I mean, it would be hypocritical not to."

Chat blinked at her disbelievingly.

"Chaton? What's wrong?" She asked.

"Please tell me I'm not hearing that you don't take yourself getting stood up as seriously as you should."

"Well, it's not always so bad, sometimes they're late, sometimes he has to leave too soon, sometimes they just forget-" she was interrupted by him making an offended noise.

And he was offended! Deeply! Who on earth would forget a date with Ladybug?? He wouldn't have been able to sleep from the excitement and some idiot was LATE?

_'Okay, Agreste, simmer down. It's not you she's on a date with.'_

He was so focused on calming himself down, he didn't notice Ladybug staring at him, a soft smile on her face. She really hadn't expected him to get so angry on her behalf. Her chest tingled pleasantly, like she had just taken a sip of warm, delicious mead.

"It just...It just isn't fair. You shouldn't be accepting someone so inconsiderate enough to be late for a person who's waiting for them. You shouldn't, you just shouldn't."

Maybe it was his in-bred manners or it was his mind drifting to a world where he would spend every waking minute counting down to the day he would be meeting Ladybug at some quaint, little restaurant - okay, this had to STOP.

He wasn't that dumb kid with an unrestrained crush anymore, he had to restrain it, for her sake.

"I agree..." Ladybug said, fiddling with one of her slightly longer pigtails. "But at the same time...I don't."

He opened his mouth to argue, but she gently cut him off. "How about we trade stories? Yours really can't have been worse than the soda dumper."

"Uh....I once went out with someone who just asked me out as a part of a dare - a girl who was a lesbian and was just checking to make sure she wasn't interested in guys, one moved way too fast-" he noticed her eyes glinting dangerously at that. "-some were so shy I never wanted to make the first move, I got set up with a few people but..." he rubbed the back of his neck. "...we just never clicked."

"Oh dear." Ladybug clicked her tongue.

"Aaaand, then there was this girl who got so offended when I wanted to get a turn to talk. I mean, she asked questions about me and answered it with a story about herself." He mumbled.

"I know right?!" Ladybug exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. "No! I don't want to be talked AT, I want to talk with you!"

Chat let out a low whistle. "You totally get it."

"And they expect me to come along with them back to my place when..." he winced. "I'm just not ready. Not that there's anything wrong with them wanting to!"

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to, you know that right?" Ladybug said fiercely. "No means no. Did they ever try to-?"

"No, no, god no. But they looked so disappointed or miffed I just feel so bad." He traced low circles around his thigh absentmindedly.

Ladybug was surprised at that. She hadn't expected Chat Noir of all people to be someone who would take it slow and steady.

She didn't want to mention the creeps who acted betrayed because she didn't want to go home with them that night - lest she make him angry.

As much as it was sweet to see Chat Noir being protective of her, she very much enjoyed meeting the shy, sweet guy who was always scared if he offended people at every step.

That wasn't a side she expected to see, but oddly it didn't feel so out of place for him either.

' _Oh, chaton. You are too good for this world. Loud, brash, reckless, but good.'_ She thought bittersweetly.

"What about you?" He interrupted her thoughts. "Any other nightmares you'd like to share?"

She gagged before continuing.

"Okay, this isn't so bad, but one guy took me out to a football game, and...I did not enjoy it."

 _'Ladybug doesn't enjoy sports._ ' He mentally filed away. _'Okay maybe not all sports,'_ he corrected himself cautiously.

"Did you tell him that?"

"Not really, he was so into it, and I felt like it would be horrible of me to make him feel bad too."

'She's so nice.' He thought. 'If I could find a word better than 'nice', she is that.' he thought lamely.

"You are too good for anyone in this world." He said, yawning as he did.

"Oh come on. Most of my experiences weren't so bad. He wouldn't get a second glance if he so much as got any ideas, let alone a second date." She grumbled.

"Either way, this is mostly just my friends setting me up with someone. With how busy I am," she gestured to all of Paris. "I really don't think I'm dating material."

"M'lady, please don't sell yourself short." He lay back on the cold iron, stretching his limbs, leaving his legs dangling off the roof.

Ladybug snuck a peek at him. Chat was always so lively and animated, always talking a mile a minute, it was so unlike him to be this serious. He sounded practically stern while telling her not to sell herself short.

His eyes were loosely closed, and since her knee was touching his thigh, the heat from his body was emanating through hers. She remembered from her vague research on the internet that cats were warm blooded animals, and were natural conductors of heat.

Now of course she knew Chat Noir was a guy and not an actual cat, yet something was clawing away at her to cocoon herself into a ball next to him and find that out for herself.

Ugh, the lack of sleep was getting to her head.

She had very well moved on from her first (and so far ONLY!) crush Adrien and hearing about his own active dating life only brought a twinge of discomfort to her now.

She would have been on three-fourths of the dates she had been if it wasn't for Alya trying her best to get her to move on. And Marinette did appreciate it! But it really wasn't helping her out much. - she was practically admitting defeat in the art of courting.

And of course her tired mind was fixating itself on the one other guy she couldn't be with. A few years ago, it was rare to catch a moment when Chat Noir was not showering her with genuine praise or confessing his love.

Now only one of those two remained, and that was Marinette's own doing. She was the one who rejected him time and time again for another love as pointless as he seemed to be. How stupid would it be of her to hope he still felt the same

It was stupid. And Marinette Dupain Cheng wasn't stupid.

"I'm giving up on dating entirely." She ended up saying.

"Huh?" He gasped.

"Yeah, you heard me. I'm sick of going with people I don't fit in with, or being late for them or wondering if I'm being stood up or not."

She could live. It would just be her, her books, her classes. No drama would come her way.

"WOAH, don't you think you're being a little too hasty?" Chat sprung up from his doze.

"I'm surprised you aren't joining me! You're seriously considering trying after all those attempts?"

"Uhhhh..." He didn't know how to answer that. He technically couldn't stop - keeping up the appearance of a bachelor with an active dating life was part of his job. And he wasn't even 20 yet.

"Forget it." She said, not waiting for him to answer. "I think I'm cursed, kitty. What's the point of putting myself through something that is obviously not going to work?"

What did he have to do to let her know exactly how much she deserved? She needed someone who would spend hours making himself good for her, someone who would open her doors, who would listen to her talk for as long as she wanted, who would see her for the wonderful person she was, even if....even if it wasn't him.

"Go out with me."

A loud silence followed his words.

"What?" Ladybug murmured, hardly being able to believe his words.

He hadn't meant to say that!!

Why, why, why didn't his head work faster than his big, fat mouth?

"Go...out with me?"

Apparently his brain still wasn't working, because he was still saying those stupid words!

"You're serious?"

It was too late to back out now, so what the hell, he may as well complete making a fool out of himself.

"I am. Let me take you out on one date. Just one, no strings attached. And if you still think you're cursed by the end of it, you can give up like you wanted to. I just don't want you to give up on a real chance of getting to enjoy atleast one date."

Ladybug blinked. Was she hearing him right?

He was asking her out? After so long?

"How - how would that work?" She stammered. "Wouldn't it draw a lot of attention if Ladybug and Chat Noir were seen out together on a date?"

Somewhere in his heart where that ember of hope when it came to Ladybug had died out, a spark fizzled.

She wasn't saying no. Yet.

"We could..." he said, thinking. 'We could wear disguises. We could wear sunglasses or masks if it doesn't end up being weird, and we could text each other how we're going to look! And hey, if an akuma shows up I won't hold it against you." He joked weakly.

She didn't answer for a full minute and Adrien could feel his heart flatlining.

"It's okay if you don't want to - I understand! It was just a suggestion and-" he mumbled the next part. "-I just thought it would be cool."

"When do you want to do this?"

She still wasn't saying no?

Was he dreaming?

"I'm not free this weekend." He said, trying to remember his schedule. Nathalie said his father would be out for the next full week at Milan. That would be a perfect chance to sneak out.

"So maybe next Saturday?"

Then slowly, she got up, reeled her yoyo out and smiled at him. "Text me the details?"

All he could do was dumbly nod at her swinging away.

If Paris heard a loud 'WAHOO!' coming from the Champ de Mars, they didn't comment.

* * *

A week later, Marinette found herself climbing up the stairs to her loft.

"Marinette dear, how did lunch with your friends go?" Her mother called from the living room.

"It went well, mom!" Marinette called back, once she got over her momentary shock.

"Okay, sweetie! Let us know if you need anything!"

"Marinette?" Tikki floated up to her chosen once they were in her room. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"What do you mean - oh you mean with Adrien?" Marinette realised.

She had managed to catch up with Alya, Nino and Adrien that afternoon.

Being with her friends after two years of not getting to see them in the hallways of the same school was incredible. Of course they got together every now and then but due to their busy schedules, times like today when they would truly get to hang out were rare.

Especially for poor Adrien. The sparkle in his green eyes was brighter today in their presence.

"Yeah, Tikki, believe me, I'm okay. I know Adrien has a life of his own and...I'm used to it." She shrugged lightly.

"You weren't upset when he..." Tikki winced, not wishing to complete the sentence.

Marinette sighed. She had happened to overhear Adrien and Nino talking about a date he had with someone from work while waiting for his ride.

Alya had given her a sympathetic pep talk all the way home, even if Marinette insisted that she truly was okay with it.

Adrien had a date with someone - whether it was because of his father or it was someone he actually liked - it really wasn't any of her business.

If Adrien asked her out now, she would have a hard time saying no - but...

"I'm happy for you, Marinette." Tikki said approvingly. "I'm glad you're moving on to Chat Noir."

Marinette nearly tripped on thin air.

"I'm not - what?"

"Isn't your date this Saturday?"

"Uh, um, yeah? But it's not really a date-date, we're just you know hanging out!"

"Well he did say 'no strings attached'." Tikki said, and Marinette missed the exasperation in her voice.

"He hasn't even texted me since, and...well, would it be awkward if I brought it up?"

"Why would it?" Tikki shrugged. "It is just a casual one, isn't it?"

The last week was pretty tame on akumas. They only had solo patrols scheduled and there was one akuma last Wednesday which she was particularly grumpy about. Hawkmoth chose to attack during a test she was taking and she had to rush back and beg her professor to let her retake it. She had to stay back in her university for another hour and by the time she went home tired and hungry, she had to have her lunch at 5 PM.

She had barely gotten to even wave at Chat Noir let alone discuss the date that they were supposed to have in four days.

They hadn't texted each other much since that eventful day a week ago.

Marinette flopped on her bed.

"I wish I had enough time to go out for a joint patrol with him. Then maybe I could..." She finished off with a sigh.

"Maybe you could?" Tikki prompted.

"Maybe I could finally ask him about it?" She shrugged, sitting up. "I mean, of course I know he's busy, when we were in school it used to take him less than a minute to annoy me with his silly puns." she rolled her eyes affectionately

Now if he sent her a text, it usually took her three days to respond. That was the case with him too.

Why did they have to grow up?

"Hey Tikki?" She said out loud.

"Yes, Marinette?"

"Is it just me or am I really looking forward to this?" She said in a muffled voice. "Much, much more than I thought I would be?"

Tikki laughed gently, "You're allowed to feel that way, yes."

"It would be nice to go out with someone I already know, instead of a complete stranger." Marinette picked at a thread in her jacket.

"Right."

"I mean, I know Chat Noir. He's a great guy. He's loyal and reliable and the best fighter I know. He always has my back."

"Yes, on the battlefield." Tikki said nonchalantly.

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean that you are thinking of Chat Noir, your partner, not Chat Noir, your date?"

Marinette squinted at that. "How is that supposed to make me think differently?"

"Well, when he is sitting across you at a dinner table - would you be thinking of how great he is at battle?" Tikki said wryly.

That made Marinette sit up. "What?"

Tikki immediately realised she said the wrong thing. "Marinette-"

"Oh no, oh no, Tikki! What if I have nothing to say?! What if he has nothing to say? What if we just end up sitting there silently and the whole day is ruined?!"

"Marinette, that is not going to happen." Tikki said comfortingly.

"But we've never asked each other personal questions before! We always stick to hypotheticals and that was only when it was necessary!"

"That didn't stop you from talking so freely that day he asked you out." Tikki pointed out. "You two are very comfortable around each other, only if you let yourself be."

Marinette considered what her kwami said.

All she had to do was ask Chat Noir how his life was going. That wasn't too hard, was it?

If they used pronouns and strayed away from getting too detailed, it should be fine.

They always would be. This was Chat Noir, she knew him, even if she didn't even know his real name.

They had grown up together as heroes and as friends for nearly 5 years.

And it's not like she never knew how good-looking he was, either. He used to be a lean, tall teenager with a cocky grin, but now...

She could have sworn the last time she saw him, he had a bit of stubble along his sharp jawline. And sometimes it was very very hard to not look away from his arms when he swung that staff around. And lately his smiles were softer, not smug like they used to be..

Marinette only realised how red her face became when her phone pinged with a message alert.

Slapping her cheeks, she picked her phone up. This had to stop!

Aaaaand of course he of all people had to be the one texting her.

 **_Chaton-Noir:_ ** _You have a minute_

They had downloaded a texting app a long time ago so they could talk to each other without phone numbers getting in the way.

 **_Badylug:_ ** _Are you responsible for my new nickname? >:( _

**_Chaton-Noir:_ ** _Why, do you like it? ;)_

 **_Badylug_ ** _: I'm blocking you. smh_

 ** _Chaton-Noir:_** _Wait, nooooo M'lady pleaaaasse_

 **_Badylug:_ ** _Actually I have a better idea_

 **_Furry:_ ** _What the fuck_

 **_Badylug:_ ** _:satisfied:_

 **_Furry:_ ** _You've really got nothing better_

 **_Badylug:_ ** _ >:) _

**_Furry:_ ** _*gulp* No worries! Furry is good! Furry is great!_

 **_Badylug:_ ** _Good job. :D So, what did you want to tell me?_

 **_Furry:_ ** _Uh, first, are you free?_

 **_Badylug:_ ** _Yes_

 **_Furry:_ ** _How free? Because I wanted to talk about Saturday._

'Badylug' nearly dropped her phone in surprise.

 **_Badylug_ ** _: Oh, that!_

He didn't answer for a while and Marinette's fingers trembled. Had she been too on-the-nose with her reply?

 **_Furry:_ ** _If you want to back out, or if something came up that day, it's okay!_

 **_Furry:_ ** _I understand._

Wait, he thought she wanted to back out?

"No way!” She thought out loud.

 **_Badylug:_ ** _Why would you think I'd say yes if I wanted to back out?_

 **_Furry:_ ** _no, no I know_

He was typing for a long time and she wondered if he was considering his words carefully.

 **_Furry:_ ** _I just wanted to make sure if you didn't have any second thoughts._

 **_Badylug_ ** _: Of course not._

 **_Badylug:_ ** _I wanted to text you about this for a long time but I was busy and I'm guessing you are too_

 **_Badylug_ ** _: We don't text as much as we used to :(_

She genuinely regretted it. If only she had found a way to meet him during circumstances that didn't have to do with akumas.

Hawkmoth shouldn't be the reason for her to see Chat Noir. It just wasn't right.

 **_Furry:_ ** _Me too, bugaboo. Sometimes in the middle of my job or my classes I want to talk to you too but you're never online and I don't want to disturb you._

 **_Furry_ ** _: Wait, does Saturday still work for you?_

He was being terrified for nothing, she did want to see him - the boy who was Chat Noir without his mask - but this kind of adorable restlessness was something she had encountered often.

He was so scared she was going to cancel he was trying his best to set himself up for disappointment.

And she couldn't blame him either. He didn't tell her much, but she could tell that he didn't look forward to going back home each time they had to leave.

Settling her head on her pillow comfortably, she texted back.

 **_Badylug:_ ** _Of course it does. I really can't wait to see you, I promise._

Okay maybe she could have been subtler about it, but he sent her a string of happy emojis after it. She couldn't find it in herself to regret being so forward after something like that.

 **_Furry:_ ** _What time works for you?_

 **_Badylug:_ ** _Hmm, let's see._

 **_Badylug:_ ** _Does 5 in the evening work for you?_

 **_Furry:_ ** _Of course! If it works for you, it works for me._

Her insides clammed up. 

She was about to type something acknowledging his gentleness, when he replied again.

 **_Furry:_ ** _Where should we meet?_

 **_Badylug:_ ** _Definitely not somewhere crowded. I want to be able to find you._

 **_Furry:_ ** _Not somewhere cramped either._

 **_Badylug:_ ** _Why not?_

She had been thinking of them meeting at the place directly. Wherever that was.

 **_Furry:_ ** _Um_

 **_Furry:_ ** _This is weird._

 **_Furry:_ ** _I'm not fond of tiny spaces?_

 **_Furry:_ ** _I guess you could say I'm claw-strophobic?_

 **_Badylug:_ ** _That's not weird at all, chaton._

 **_Badylug:_ ** _There's nothing abnormal about having a phobia._

 **_Furry:_ ** _Thank you, m'lady._

He sent her a pink heart.

She hadn't even finished smiling at it when the next message came.

 **_Furry:_ ** _The Trocedaro isn't too crowded in the evening. And it's open and airy._

 **_Badylug:_ ** _Perfect._

 **_Furry:_ ** _Purr-fect* >:( _

**_Badylug:_ ** _Whatever, you clown._

 **_Badylug:_ ** _And where are we going?_

 **_Furry:_ ** _That's for mew to know and for you to find out._

 **_Badylug:_ ** _Chaaaaaaaaaaaaat._

 **_Badylug:_ ** _Is it gonna be some restaurant I've never heard of?_

 **_Furry:_ ** _Oh no, the restaurant is a part of the date, but that's not what I was talking about._

 **_Furry:_ ** _ >:) _

**_Badylug:_ ** _You're making it sound so convoluted!_

 **_Furry:_ ** _You're saying that like it's a bad thing :P_

 **_Badylug:_ ** _smh_

 **_Badylug:_ ** _In that case_

 **_Badylug:_ ** _I'm taking YOU somewhere too._

 **_Badylug:_ ** _And I'm not telling you where it is._

She had the perfect place in mind.

 **_Furry:_ ** _Joke's on you, Badylug. I'm much better at handling surprises than you. I can wait a little longer._

 **_Badylug:_ ** _:O_

 **_Badylug:_ ** _Meanie._

 **_Furry:_ ** _It's not my fault I'm so good at waiting for the things I want._

She blinked.

He didn't mean it like THAT, did he?

No, of course he didn't. The stupid cat was just messing around.

She really needed to stop overthinking things like she did with Adrien. She wasn't going to make the same mistake with Chat Noir.

Not that she was going to be pursuing him like she did with Adrien!

 **_Furry:_ ** _At the end of the day, I just want to have a good time with you._

 **_Badylug:_ ** _Of course, Chat, isn't that what dates are all about?_

 **_Furry:_ ** _Is that what you want this date to be about?_

 **_Badylug:_ ** _There's nothing I want more._

She let out a breath she didn't realise she had been holding.

 **_Furry:_ ** _Me too._

 **_Furry:_ ** _So what will you be wearing?_

Seriously? She bared her heart out to him and this was what she got?

Shaking her head, she told herself not to be too disappointed. He felt the same way she did. For now, that was enough.

 **_Badylug_ ** _: You first, I'm still trying to figure that part out._

 **_Furry:_ ** _I'm gonna be wearing black sunglasses, and a green scarf._

 **_Badylug:_ ** _Chat Noir's colors?_

She typed with a smile.

 **_Furry:_ ** _Well of course. What about you?_

 **_Badylug:_ ** _Let's see. How am I supposed to dress? Gee, it sure would be nice to know where I'm going..._

 **_Furry:_ ** _Nice try. I think you can be dressy, but not too fancy either._

_I'd say anything classy would work._

Marinette raised an eyebrow at his liberal use of fashion jargon. Did he by any chance work in fashion too? Or was he just flexing those terms at her?

With him, it was always hard to tell.

 **_Badylug:_ ** _I'll be wearing a red dress with a black jacket. And pink sunglasses._

 **_Furry:_ ** _Don't tell me you'll be abandoning the spots!_

 **_Badylug:_ ** _Wouldn't dream of it._

She made sure to be coy. She was in a creative mood a few weeks back and she had started working on a jacket with an embroided ladybug in the back.

 **_Badylug:_ ** _Wait, how do we make sure you don't find some other girl with a red dress?_

 **_Furry:_ ** _Do you have that little faith in me? Of course I'll be able to find you._

 **_Buglady:_ ** _..you know I do, but it's better to be safe. Maybe we could use a code?_

 **_Furry:_ ** _Like a question? oooo_

 **_Furry:_ ** _It HAS to be "Has the ladybug landed?"_

 **_Badylug:_ ** _Something tells me you've been picturing this scenario for a long time._

 **_Furry:_ ** _You haven't the faintest idea_.

The color of her cheeks glowed a faint red. He imagined them meeting together like this? He even had a silly phrase ready?

 **_Furry:_ ** _Bugaboo?_

 **_Furry:_ ** _You there?_

 **_Furry:_ ** _Does the question work for you?_

 **_Badylug:_ ** _Yeah, it totally does!_

 **_Furry:_ ** _Something tells me you're lost in thought._

Something told her he was practically vibrating in excitement.

She may as well join him.

Marinette climbed out of her bed and pulled down her screen. She was a lot of things, but nothing if not meticulous when it came to her schedule.

The first thing she did after reaching home the day he asked her out was to mark the Saturday with a small drawing of a cat and cross down every day that led up to it.

Carefully taking a picture of those two weeks, avoiding anything that led to a clue about her identity, she sent it over to him.

 **_Badylug:_ ** _Nothing, just totally excited for this Saturday. ;)_

She was sure his joy was palpable upon recieving it.

She was proven right when he sent her a screenshot of his calendar, the same date bookmarked with the emoji of a Ladybug.

"Tikki?" Marinette said in a wobbly voice, putting down her phone.

"Yes, Marinette?" The kwami had been quietly chewing on a cookie.

"Do you think I've got it bad?" She asked, trying to calm down her rapidly beating heart.

"Not to be Plagg, but honestly, I think you're screwed." 

* * *

Getting out of the house was easy. Adrien had to tell Nathalie he was meeting a friend for a project - and she definitely preferred him out of the house rather than bringing some stranger into the house and risk incurring Gabriel's wrath.

The Gorilla offered to give the car, but he politely refused, choosing to walk instead. Getting the car would tip off Ladybug on who he was, and she definitely would not want that.

The hard part? Trying to not freak out and break character and get recognised.

If anyone knew Adrien Agreste was walking around in a pair of hipster sunglasses in dark attire that certainly did not suit his family name - AND on a date with some girl? Forget it. He'd get Ladybug into so much trouble. He'd be grounded till his 30th birthday.

He reached Trocedaro ten minutes early, like he always did for patrol. Not that Ladybug was ever late, it was just him being overly excited to see her again. 

So imagine his surprise when he spotted a red dress and a black jacket in the staggering crowd of people. 

'Calm down.' he told himself listlessly. This was so like him, going about and singling out the first girl in red as Ladybug. 

Besides, they had agreed that she would be the one to approach him. Not the other way around. 

So he leaned against the wall, waiting for his date. 

If only it was a real date. 

He needed to stop calling it that in his head at least. It wasn't a date. He was just hanging out with his best friend. Whether or not she happened to be the same girl he never got over was irrelevant.

His eyes wandered, landing briefly on a group of two boys and three girls strolling through the park, occasionally taking pictures. The girl in red whom he noticed earlier was looking at her phone. M.Ramier was talking to his pigeons again. Adrien silently hoped no one would depress him today. The poor man had been akumatised.....well, they had lost their count somewhere around 70. So it was definitely more than that.

And he really didn't want any heroing to happen during one of the rare chances he had with Ladybug. 

_'Oh dear god that sounded so selfish.'_ He shook his head. 

His eyes landed on the same girl again. 

This time, he lingered longer for some reason. Her dark hair was down and curled, and her knee-length dress, red as blood was fluttering slightly in the spring air. Her black jacket weirdly reminded him of the colour of Ladybug's spots.

No, it couldn't be her. It couldn't be that convenient. Nothing in his life ever came easily to him. He had to earn everything - his grades, his fencing rank, some time with his father....

They were going to have dinner this week, but the trip to Milan had come up. 

He had tried to cheer himself up. It's not like his father could cancel an international conference just so he could sit with his son at a dinner table for less than an hour. 

Besides, he still got to see Ladybug today...should he text her?

The girl looked up from her phone for the first time in the three minutes he'd been watching her. He inhaled sharply when he saw her wearing pink sunglasses.

She fit all three of Ladybug's descriptions. Maybe...maybe he was right? 

She was looking right at him. 

She still hadn't looked away so it wasn't a passing glance. 

Involuntarily, he raised a hand to wave at her, and she perked up. 

He suddenly felt really hot around his neck, despite his jacket collar being popped and despite it being spring. 

She walked over to him, and his jaw dropped lightly at her boots. She was wearing boots! Behind Ladybug's mask there was possibly a girl who wore boots with dresses and leather jackets and looked absolutely breathtaking if he couldn't even see her eyes-

"Has...the ladybug landed?" she asked him shyly.

He didn't answer, he was still gaping. 

She blinked. "Okay you're definitely my Chat Noir."

_HER Chat Noir-_

He closed his mouth to keep himself from combusting. 

"How did you know?" 

He grimaced. He could have sworn he had practiced something clever - but now he couldn't remember it. 

She lightly patted his cheek. "Only he would make an expression like that."

"Heh." That was all he could say before he came to his senses. "Hey, bugaboo. I'll have you know I recognised you first."

"You did?? How?" she asked.

"Do you see anyone else here wearing the same colors as you?" He said, rubbing the back of his neck. 

"Fair." Ladybug said, seamlessly taking the arm he offered her with a suave 'M'lady.'

"Although that's not what tipped me off." he said, trying to tone down his giddiness. Ladybug's hands somehow seemed smaller out of costume. 

"Then what did?" she joked, bumping his shoulder. "You looked at me and just knew?"

"I'd normally make a joke out of that, but yeah, that's exactly what happened."

He smiled to himself when he didn't hear her answer. Score!

"So," he heard her talk after a few minutes. "Where are we going?" 

"Will it change your opinion on dating?"

"Huh?" she asked, confused.

"You said you would give up on dating if this didn't go well?" he reminded her. Had she forgotten?

"Oh! Oh right! Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm still uh," she became flustered by the minute. "Jury's still out. We've only been walking for five minutes." she turned away. 

"Huh." he said, shaking off his light confusion. She really had forgotten.

A small flicker of hope fizzled and went out. He couldn't go down that path again, he told himself sternly. 

'No strings attached.' His words. This was just a hangout between friends. He was just encouraging Ladybug to expand her horizons. It was nothing more.

He suddenly caught a flash of something red on her all black jacket. 

He craned his head (she was shorter than he expected) to see the back of her jacket. An appreciative whistle left his mouth at the intricately embroidered ladybug. 

"If you had been standing with your back to me, this would have been a dead giveaway." He caught her smug smile.

"I made it myself." 

She sewed?

The momentary flash of Marinette at a sewing machine left as quickly as it came.

His brain cells really were fried. The minute someone mentioned something related to needle and thread, his head shouted his friend's name.

Not that he could actually see them, but from the crinkles on the side of her eyes, he could tell they were wide behind her glasses. She was waiting for his opinion. 

"You like the ladybug?" She asked him eagerly.

 _'Yes, very much so.'_ The voice in his head babbled, but he was able to get himself together to utter a "You look beautiful."

She stopped in her tracks for half a second before opening her mouth again. "Sorry, I didn't get you?"

"I said that you look beautiful." He repeated without missing a beat.

Marinette's cheeks were growing pinker by the minute. Her dates had said she looked cute, that she looked pretty, but no one had called her beautiful outright, not with the reverent, sincere expression that Chat was wearing. He still hadn't taken his eyes off of her.

"Thank you." she said, her hand gripping his arm tighter. 

She didn't ever actually think Chat Noir wasn't handsome, but she didn't think he would look this good in a jacket with an open collar. Her eyes had lingered on his neck and his hair (messy as always, but with a bit of control to its wildness) than what would be deemed appropriate. 

"You don't look so bad yourself!' She said quickly, wanting to be done with the subject already. "So where are we going?" 

His soft smile had never wavered. 

"Well, how about a movie?"

* * *

"I didn't know you liked art films!" Marinette whispered excitedly as they made their way to their seats. 

"I wasn't sure if you were a lady after my own 'art'" he said, and she rolled her eyes. "But it seems like my fears were unfounded."

Marinette smiled bittersweetly to herself. "I've wanted to watch _'Portrait de la jeune fille en feu'_ forever but I don't like watching movies without company." she adjusted her dress. 

It never really hit her just how much they didn't know about each other until he had to go to the ticket counter for confirmation by himself so she wouldn't see his name.

"Do your friends not like historical romances?" he asked as he bundled up his jacket and laid it in his lap.

It was still semi-dark, and people were still pouring into the theater. 

His dress shirt was unbuttoned two buttons from the top. Tearing her eyes away from that delicious sight, she answered. "Yeah, Al-uh, all my friends like either superhero films or action ones or...." she shuddered. "...horror and gore." 

"Not a fan?" he asked, surprised.

"Not of horror." she said. "Don't tell me you are!"

A brief moment of deja vu crossed his mind. A few years ago, Marinette had been kind enough to help him get to this very theater to help him see his mother's film. 

She didn't like horror films too.

"No, of course not." he said out loud, before realising that Ladybug had asked him a question. "Oh, uh, nope, not a fan of horror either."

"Phew." she said. "Finally there's someone who gets me!" She said. 

Was she even aware of how cute she was? 

"Besides," he leaned in to whisper, because the trailers were starting. "I think we're to blame for the market boom in the action genre. People love superheroes, don't they?" 

She shrugged. "I mean, after actually doing it on a daily basis, the spark just isn't there when I see it on a screen."

"Interesting." he said. He had never thought of it that way.

He was about to say something, but there were several hushed shushes from their neighbours, so he focused on the film instead. 

* * *

"Yeah, I don't think we'll be invited in there again." Chat said, trying to hold back his laughter.

She was the first to break. She giggled loudly as they walked out the theater, ignoring the annoyed stares they got. 

"Shhh." Chat was saying in between broken peals of laughter.

The two of them had been so chatty during the film, always commenting on the scandal the two main characters had created, loudly pointing out the aesthetics they liked, Chat had been wiping tears from his eyes at the end of the film. She had to quietly pat his back to prevent everyone's attention on him.

They had tried to be quiet, they really did, but he was so talkative and he knew how to hold a conversation, she just couldn't help it. She had spent the entire movie leaned towards him, her hands draped over his armrest as they talked.

It had been like any other day on the rooftop, talking about close encounters and stories about their kwamis.

No wonder everyone in the audience was annoyed with them.

"We were so dumb." Marinette was nearly doubled over in laughter. "Remind me to keep our next movie sessions private. Preferably on a rooftop."

"Are you sure we won't wake up all of Paris with how loud we would be?" 

He leaned against the side of the building, trying to catch his breath. 

"That was..." He said. "The most fun I've had with anyone."

"At a movie?"

"Ever." he corrected. "I don't get to hang out with my friends a lot, because of...you know, my job. It takes up a lot of my time. So..." He straightened himself up as he looked down at her. "The only friend I see a lot of these days is you."

"Seems like there's barely any competition." Ladybug said, her laughter dying for now. 

"There isn't actually." he said, and once again, she was left to be struck at his sincerity. "I don't get to speak as freely with them as I get to do with you. Well, most of them."

She couldn't imagine Chat Noir, the loud, brash, hot headed, yet sweet and good-natured Chat Noir she knew having a hard time being with his friends. She imagined, whoever he was in real life, he was probably the life of the party. Always the center of attention, full of charisma and bad puns. 

Looks like that wasn't the case, if she - with whom he had to speak in half-worded riddles - ranked so high.

She wrapped an arm around his waist, pulling him closer to her side. "I feel the same way too." 

She didn't elaborate, even as she felt his arm go around her shoulder. If she did, she would go far past the point of no return.

"So, are you hungry?" she didn't miss how his voice cracked a little. "Because I know the perfect place."

* * *

Marinette had to pick her jaw off of the floor. He had brought her to one of the most expensive restaurants in the city, a place she wouldn't even dream of going to.

"You coming?" He caught her hand when he saw her getting distracted. 

"Who are you?" she asked blankly.

He was taken aback. "Are you sure you want me to answer that?"

"Oh, um, I mean - this place! You can't get here without a reservation made at least a month in advance! How did you even...?"

He smiled, but this time it lacked his usual warmth. He looked downright bitter. "Let's just say being me has its advantages." 

"O..kay?" she was even more confused, but he didn't follow up on his weird statement. 

When they got to their booth, which looked really nice and cozy, his easygoing smile was back again. 

There wasn't a chair, but he didn't let her sit until he helped her remove her jacket. His fingers (his bare fingers!) brushed against the length of her arms and she shuddered even more when she heard him whisper "There you go." against the back of her neck.

This was just two friends hanging out. That was it. It was a part of a silly bet.

"Has your mind been changed yet?" He asked as he sat down opposite her. 

"Huh?"

"You seem to keep on forgetting." He said wryly. "Am I that great company?"

"Of course you are." She said without missing a beat. "However, I don't think I can compare being on a date with, well, being with you."

"What do you mean?" He asked curiously.

"When I'm on a date with someone, it's almost always with someone I barely know, and we spend the time getting to know each other. And...I already know you, but I also don't know you - I didn't even realise this was your scene."

His face fell for a moment, and she held up her hand. "I'm not finished. It is weird, but a good kind of weird. And well, I actually like being with you, so that's a definite win." 

His face broke into the biggest grin at her words. She wanted to say these things often if it made him look that handsome.

"What can I get you today, monsieur? Mademoiselle?" a waiter interrupted them, looking slightly confused. He was probably wondering why they were wearing glasses inside a building. 

He looked to her first, courteously waiting for her to make her choice. 

Marinette grimaced sheepishly. "Actually can you order for me? I don't even know what to choose." 

"You sure?" He asked.

"Yep. I trust you."

The effect of her simple words was huge. His grin had been wide, but now it turned softer, more lazier somehow. 

And it was doing things to her. 

"Um, why don't you order for us? I do eat meat!" She said quickly. "I'll just go to the ladies room! Be right back!" 

She bolted out of there as gracefully as she could. 

* * *

"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" Marinette was slapping herself.

"Marinette, you need to stop!" Tikki said sternly, "Why are you hitting yourself?"

It was good that she was the only one in the ladies room. She couldn't take any more weird stares. 

"Tikki, he went above and beyond for me! He picked a film he wasn't even sure I liked and hoped I would! He brought me to this fancy restaurant whose food I will undoubtedly enjoy because he wanted me to have a good time!! This isn't an actual date, why did he go through all this trouble?!"

"Because he loves you, Marinette." Tikki simply said. 

Marinette took off her glasses, blinking away the agitated tears. She didn't need ruined makeup either. 

"Come on, Tikki. He doesn't. It's been a long time since...he would tell me everyday just how much he..appreciated me and trusted me and cared about me and..." she struggled to form the next words. "...loved me."

"He still does all those things. He may not say that last one out loud, but that doesn't mean it isn't true."

"Tikki..." Marinette said exasperatedly. 

"Yes, it is true, Marinette, and you feel the same way and it's scaring you." Tikki said matter of factly.

"That's a bold claim to make, Tikki, you can't just say things like that!"

"Doesn't make it any less true." Tikki said. 'Why else would you have chosen to bring him to the park where your parents met each other for the first time?"

"I...thought it would be low-key and..."

"Romantic?" Tikki said coyly. 

"Stop! No, I'm not in love with Chat Noir, and what he used to have for me is a thing of the past!" 

"Marinette..." Tikki sighed. "It's okay if you feel that way." 

"Either way, my plans are going to look like a joke compared to his. Why didn't I think of something better?" She slapped her forehead. 

"You do realise that he would love whatever you planned, no matter how small it is? He just wants to be with you, and really, that's the only thing that matters. Would you have wanted to spend time with Chat Noir like this even without making definite plans?"

"Yes..."

"And so will he. Trust me." Tikki kissed her cheek.

"What if I go out there and act like the biggest clown ever?"

"He's Chat Noir. No one is a bigger clown than him." Tikki said. "Believe me, I spent several millennia with Plagg, I know what I'm talking about."

Marinette put on her sunglasses. "Alright." she told herself bravely. "Let's do this."

* * *

"Oh, there you are. I ordered some sparkling water and soup as an appetizer and a steak for us to share. Is that okay with you because I can change it if you'd like!"

"No! No, that's perfectly okay!" She said shakily, taking note of his wobbling left leg. He was just as nervous as her?

"So, I was going to ask you before you left, what do you want when you do win the bet?"

"You mean, if I still don't want to go on another date after this?

"Yep." 

"Hmm..." she said thoughtfully. "I don't know."

"Doubt it." he said, waving it off. "You must want something."

"Oh and you'll give me anything I ask?" She quipped.

"Name it and it's yours."

Okay, how was she supposed to answer that? She wanted to whine about him being way way more sweet to her than she deserved, but she held it in.

"Hm, let's see." She rested her chin on her palm, staring intently into his black sunglasses.

What she would give to see what his eyes were like underneath the mask? Would they still be green?

Well she couldn't ask him that!

"You know what, I'll let you know once we're done here." She said. 

"Seriously?" 

"Yep. I'm still working my way to it."

He pouted. "Oh fine."

"What about you?" She asked, placing her hand back on the table. "What do you want if you do change my mind?" 

"I'll already have gotten what I want." He purred. 

"Huh?" Marinette was taken aback. 

Adrien gathered up the last bit of courage he had, and took her right hand in his from across the table. 

There was still a wide space in the cushion separating both of them. In a perfect world, he could have scooted over closer to her, held her face tenderly in his hands and kissed her, not caring about who was watching.

But this wasn't a perfect world, and he had to make do with pressing a kiss on her bare hand for the first time. 

"I will have gotten to be with you like this, without any akumas or powers hanging over us, at least once. I really don't want anything more than that." 

She was blushing? Oh dear god he made her blush for the second time today! Was this working? Was he changing her mind?

 _'Yeah, on the wrong thing you should be changing her mind on.'_ A voice that sounded like Plagg stopped him.

A small cough from their waiter broke them out of their trance.

"Your meal, monsieur." He politely placed his soup in front of him. "Mademoiselle." He set down Ladybug's bowl.

He squeezed her hand before letting it go. He was about to take his spoon, when suddenly, something stopped him. 

Something was different today. He didn't know what it was, but it was eating away at him. 

"Bon appetit!" Ladybug said heartily as she began to eat her first spoonful. 

That.

That was what was so different. 

He took a spoonful of soup, but he wasn't able to swallow it. The lump on his throat was preventing him from doing so.

"Everything okay?" She asked. No wonder, he must have looked constipated. 

"Yep!" He gave her a weak smile.

He took another spoon, but it also went the way of the first one.

 _'Stop crying, stop crying, stop crying'._ ' he fisted his palm underneath the table, sinking it into the cushion, when suddenly, it was covered by a warm hand.

He opened his eyes to see Ladybug. She had abandoned her food to come and sit next to him. 

"Chaton, what's wrong?"

No, he couldn't tell her! She couldn't see him like this!

"Please, tell me." she said, taking his hand and covering it with both of her palms. Her warmth felt heavenly compared to how cold his palms were. "I'm worried, what happened, you look...you look like you are going to cry. What happened? Don't you like the soup?"

"No, no, the soup is fine." he said. "I'm okay, really."

"No, no you're not. And it's okay if you're not. We were talking about everything and nothing when we walked here, and now you've gone really silent. What's going on?"

"Nothing...it's just.." he couldn't help the tiny sniffle that escaped. "This is the first time in 4 months that I'm not having a meal alone."

She was stricken by his declaration. "What?"

"It's stupid, I know-"

"No! It's not stupid!" She said angrily. "No, I- really?"

He nodded, "My father - he's always really busy, he can't always have dinner with me. Sometimes he becomes so busy he cancels the meals he does schedule with me and-" he paused, covering his eyes with his hands and pushing his sunglasses up to his forehead. He turned away from her so she wouldn't see who he was while he wiped his tears.

"I'm okay, I'm okay." He said rapidly, turning back to her with his sunglasses on. "Like I said, it's nothing, it was just a really nice change to eat with someone."

Ladybug had her free hand over her mouth. "That's awful! Who does that to someone?" She was outraged.

"Like I said, he's really busy-"

"No! That's not an excuse to stand up someone you said you'd meet - oh!" she stopped, realising. "Oh my god. No wonder you were so upset when I didn't turn up that day - I am so so sorry!"

"Ladybug, no, that was not your fault." He said fiercely. "You never said you were coming, it was my fault I got my hopes up. Besides, that was years ago and...and you're nothing like him. Believe me."

"Still...I..." Ladybug raised her hand to rub his shoulder. "My poor kitty."

She couldn't imagine not having meals with her family, not telling her parents about her day, listening to her dad bore her with pun after pun. Family mealtimes were just...a constant in her life she couldn’t imagine not having. 

It wasn't fair that Chat Noir had to make do with scraps of what she got freely. 

If she could, she would never let him have another lonely meal by himself. She would give him all the food he wanted, wrap him in blankets and give him warm tea and never let him go - and -

She loved him.

Shit.

"Ladybug? What are you doing?" He asked, seeing her push back his bowl a little further into the table.

He was surprised when she pulled him into a tight hug, her bare arms wrapped around his shoulders. 

He let himself relent in her embrace. She kept on whispering sweet nothings in his ear and stroking his head and she smelt so nice - he could tell when he buried his face in her shoulder. 

Another thing to add to his file. She smelt like cookies and bread. And vaguely familiar. 

"I'm here for you, no matter what." She said, her hands dropping briefly to his chest. "Anytime you want someone to eat your food with or, you know just hang out, you're texting me immediately." 

His mood was brightened up by that time. "There's no one else I'd rather call."

Marinette on the other hand was still reeling from her realization earlier.

She loved Chat Noir. 

Probably had for a long time.

She couldn't go back to denying it now that it had hit her over the side of her head.

"Hold up." She said, taking her food on the other side of the table and placing it in front of her. 

"Bon appetit?" She asked, scooting herself closer to him. 

He nodded so rapidly, that if he were in costume, his bell would have jingled too. "M'lady?" he said, taking his spoon.

"Yes?" 

He leaned in and kissed her cheek, just like that day Glaciator attacked, only this time it lingered a bit too long to be platonic. 

"Thank you." he smiled crookedly at her.

 _'You know what, I can freak out later.'_ Marinette thought haphazardly. 

* * *

Ladybug had insisted they suit up for getting to the place she had planned on taking him. 

He followed her blindly, his head still stuck in the tender hug she had given him. 

Her arms had been so small but the strength she must have had to hold him up like that...

He never did stop loving her, did he? He thought exasperatedly.

He gave up. He gave up trying to forget. 

Before he could think further, Ladybug landed right in the shallows of.... Bois de Boulogne? 

"We can detransform here." She whispered, pulling him behind a tree. 

"Spots off." 

"Claws in." He was in awe. 

"What?" she asked. "Oh, hi Plagg."

Adrien waved to Tikki. "Nothing, I've just never seen you detransform before."

"Oh!" Ladybug blushed briefly. "Uhm, uh, w-would it be okay if Plagg and Tikki hid in my purse together? We're surrounded by people and they wouldn't be found out easily that way."

"Aw yes! Come on, Sugarcube!" Plagg pulled a yelping Tikki into Ladybug's clutch.

* * *

"Okay, so why are we here in this park?" Chat asked, letting her pull him into public view. It was nearing sunset, so the only people left behind were either couples or people who had come alone.

"Um, uh," Ladybug was fiddling with her hair. "It's just- you see-" 

He held her hand, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. 

"It's okay. Breathe." he said kindly. 

That gave her strength to continue. 

"Okay, so um, it's actually in this park that my parents met when they were teenagers." She was blushing heavily. "They used to take me here all the time on their wedding anniversary when I was a little kid, and this is the first time I've come here without them."

"Really?" he was fascinated.

"And I know that this isn't much at all compared to what you did, but I didn't know what you were going to do and this seems really lame in comparison-"

He placed a finger over her lips. "Bugaboo, you have no idea how much it means to me that you would bring me here." 

He could feel his eyes glazing over again. "Really." He confirmed, seeing the question in her eyes. "The fact that you would bring me to a place that means so much to you - come on, that's better than what I did."

He put his hand down and Marinette was at the verge of asking him to replace his finger with his lips. 

"No way! You went all out for me!" She complained as he let him pull her down to sit as always. 

"But yours had sentiment!"

"Like yours didn't! You have to stop selling yourself short!"

"Says the actual short person-HEY!" He winced when she shoved him. 

"That...barely hurt." He said rubbing the part of his chest she had more or less punched. "Is that all you got?"

"Make one more height joke and you'll find out."

* * *

"Tell me something about your parents." He asked pleadingly some time later.

They were sprawled on the grass together, their jackets and scarves in a pile next to them. They had talked about the movie, M.Pigeon, their kwamis, and the brain freeze Ladybug had gotten at the restaurant when she had taken a huge scoop of ice cream. Chat only decided to help her after having a loud laugh at her expense.

She'd say something about identities, and they'd go back to talking about things they could talk about. 

"My mom's side of the family didn't approve of them." She said, resting her head on one of her arms. "My dad was...from a different background and they were hesitant about letting her travel so far away. My mom's great uncle is the only one we're still in contact with. Apparently I have a lot of cousins, but I have never met any one of them."

"Huh." He said thoughtfully, watching her hair blow in the breeze.

What would it be like to have a huge family?

Family as far as he was concerned, it was pretty limited. There was Felix and Aunt Amelie, but he barely saw them. His father was an only child and his mother...

"So what did your parents do to convince them?" He asked, instead, turning to his side to look at her better.

She looked at him, taking in his features for a minute before answering. "They didn't."

"Huh?"

"My paternal grandmother helped them elope." She said it half wistfully, half sadly. "They got married here in Paris...and we've been here since." 

"I'm sorry." He said, absent mindedly tucking a lock of her hair behind her hair, mindful of her glasses.

"No, don't be. It's fine. I wish I knew my extended relatives but..sadly that's not to be."

Diverting the subject to a topic that would bring her joy, he asked, "I'm betting your parents used to meet up here a lot huh?"

"Oh yeah, they used to meet up here for dates all the time. You see that gazebo over there?" She pointed. "A lot of the time, musicians would play for money or someone would have rented a quartet. My father would ask my mom to dance and they would do so for hours." She said, sitting up.

She let out a tiny laugh. “I wish I could do that.”

 _‘I wish I had someone to love like that.’_ she thought additionally.

“You wanna dance then?” he asked, getting up as well

“Huh?” she spun around to face him.

“Yeah, you said you wish you could dance like that, right?” He said, reaching over and dusting off some of the mud on her shoulders. 

Oh.

He had misunderstood what she was trying to say. 

Thank goodness.

“A-actually yeah.” She said. “I’d love to, but there’s no music.”

“Music? Is that what you want?” he smirked, pulling out his phone, which noticeably had no phone case. 

Suddenly, _La Vie En Rose_ blared from his phone. “There you go.” he put his phone in his pocket. “Now, can I have this dance?” he offered her his hand.

“My answer hasn’t changed.” She said flirtatiously.

He helped her get up, and briefly dusted off his clothes. 

He effortlessly pulled her closer by the waist, his hand hovering away from pressing too close, took her hand and placed it on his shoulder, and held the other one loosely. 

Marinette was struck by a brief sense of deja vu. A long time ago, Adrien had pulled her in to dance just like that. The same conviction. The same amount of grace.

Wait, no, she couldn’t think about Adrien when she was still trying to process being in love with Chat Noir!

He slowly began to spin them around in time to the music, beaming down at her. 

His hand felt firm and strong on her waist, and she was overwhelmed at how many things she was learning about Chat Noir today. He was a good dancer too?

“You’re a great dancer.” She said, letting him pull her closer. Her arm was draped around his shoulders to accommodate the new position. 

“You’d be surprised at how many things I’ve been told to learn.” he said, pulling away and spinning her out and back against his chest. 

_Told to learn?_

She didn’t have enough time to appreciate how snug it felt or how firm his chest was when he had spun them back into the main position. 

“Very smooth.” She said, laying her head on his broad shoulder. 

“Only for you, m’lady. Only for you.” He said, letting his chin press against her temple

“Ow!” She said, pulling away suddenly, but not out of his arms. 

“What? What happened?” he asked, alarmed.

“Sorry, no, my glasses were digging into my face.” She said, adjusting them. 

“Oh. Oh okay then.” He said. “Does it hurt?”

“No, it’s fine now.” She said.

 _‘It’s a good thing we aren’t kissing now with glasses on. That would be a disaster.’_ she thought, relieved. 

“What?” He said, his eyes wide. He had stopped dancing.

Oh crap.

Had she said that out loud?

Judging by his expression, she most certainly had. 

“Uh, uh I mean,” Marinette moved out of his arms. “Oh no.” she clapped her hands over her mouth.

“Ladybug did you...did you mean that?” 

“NO! I mean, I did, but I didn’t mean to say it out loud and I didn’t want to think that but not in a bad way but it’s not that - OH MY GOD I’M MAKING THIS WORSE!” She shouted into her hands.

Suddenly, she felt a warm pressure on her shoulders.

“Bugaboo?” He didn’t sound peeved.

“Bugaboo, please, look at me?” He begged. 

She did, her glasses digging away from her skin. 

“Did you mean that? Are you...are you feeling differently towards me?”

She wished now more than ever that she could see his eyes. His green eyes - always so expressive, always so bright. Maybe, just maybe if she could see them, she’d know if she wasn’t too late. 

“Y..yes? I..I think I have been for a while but, I didn’t want to tell you because, I don’t know, I thought I was too late. I thought you didn’t love me anymore and -” _I didn’t have any right coming back to you now._

“Not love you anymore?” He gaped. “Ladybug, I’ve never stopped being in love with you.”

A weird noise came out of her mouth. If he noticed, he didn’t say anything.

“I’m still in love with you, I didn’t want to keep saying it because I thought you didn’t feel the same way.” He was breathing heavily, his lower lip trembling. He didn’t know if he should smile or grin or cry. “You have feelings for me?” he asked again, hardly believing.

“I love you too.” She barely got the words out, but once she did, her burdened shoulders suddenly became naked.

“I love you too,” She said again, testing out the words. “I love you too - wait. Shit, I _love_ you?!”

“Shit, I love you?” he paraphrased with a choked laugh.

“You have no idea how long I- I didn’t even realise until-” She was spared from making sentences by him pulling her into a tight hug.

He was shaking. Every bit of him was shaking. Any minute now his alarm was going to go off and he would be back in a world where he didn’t have the balls to ask Ladybug out. 

Her arms were clawing desperately at his back, clinging to him. “I’m so sorry, I’m so so sorry.” She said tearfully. “I’m sorry I didn’t realise sooner, I’m sorry I put you through so much pain.”

“No, m’lady, don’t apologise. Don’t apologise for the past. I’m-” she looked up at him, and his hands were on her shoulders. The song was long over and neither of them had noticed. “I’m just happy for right now. And right now...I love you and you love me too.”

That was enough. That made up for the past 5 years. 

“I wish I could see your eyes.” She whispered, her hands holding his cheeks. 

“Me too.” He said. “But it’s okay, we don’t have to do this just because...are we together?” he still sounded dazed. 

“Yes we are, mon chaton.” she rested her forehead on his. “Yes we are.” 

Suddenly, an idea occurred. 

This was it. 

“I actually know what I want from you, on behalf of the bet.” She said. “I mean, I know that neither of us won but -” she choked out a laugh. “Can you do something for me?”

“Yes, anything. Name it and it’s yours.”

“Chat Noir.” She moved away, and pulled away her sunglasses. “Will you walk me home?” 

He was still in shock.

“M-marinette?!” He exclaimed.

Her hands trembled. “Yes, yes it’s me.” 

He pushed his sunglasses up to his head. “Hi, Marinette.” 

Marinette dropped her sunglasses. “A-adrien?!”

“Yeah?” he said, nervously. “Is...is that bad?” Was being Adrien bad?

“No! No no, no!” She shook her hands. “I’m just…”

“Shocked?” he stepped closer to her, cupping her cheek and wiping away a stray tear. 

“Now I know why...why I was thinking of Marinette sometimes when I looked at you.” he said. 

“I thought I was going crazy. Why am I thinking of Chat Noir when I’m with Adrien or gee, something about this is familiar? What could it be?” She groaned. “We were so stupid.” “I agree.” He said with a dazzling grin. 

“Adrien Agreste?”

“Yes, Marinette Dupain Cheng?”

“Will you walk me home now?”

“Yep.” he pulled her closer by the waist, as he leaned in. “Just as soon as I do this.” he captured his lips with hers, pulling her into a deep kiss that lasted for a long time.


End file.
